


Early Spring Warmth

by itsmoonpeaches



Series: Lost My Heart in Republic City [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Kataang Week, Kataang Week 2020, Post-100 Year War (Avatar TV), Post-Avatar: The Last Airbender, Pre-Avatar: Legend of Korra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25550659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsmoonpeaches/pseuds/itsmoonpeaches
Summary: Prompt: Keeping Warm-“Where were you?” Katara asked Toph with a glance.“You’ll never believe what I just heard!” the earthbender exclaimed, completely disregarding her friend’s question. “Some merchants at the dock were trading stories about wind buffalo on an island they passed on the way here!”-Or, in Cranefish Town, Toph lets Aang and Katara know that there are rumors of a lost bison herd.
Relationships: Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang & Toph Beifong, Aang/Katara (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Katara
Series: Lost My Heart in Republic City [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1851508
Comments: 17
Kudos: 146





	Early Spring Warmth

**Author's Note:**

> I have a confession to make. One of the reasons I have returned after so many years to writing fanfic (besides the fact that ATLA has been reinvigorated by Netflix), was because I wanted to build up to me writing for my first Kataang Week in a long while. So here we are. 
> 
> You might notice that this is part of a series called Lost My Heart in Republic City. That's because it's also an additional challenge for myself that all these onehosts will either be set in or mention Republic City in some form. This includes previous incarnations of the city before it was called Republic City (i.e. Cranefish Town).
> 
> This was written for the day 1 prompt: Keeping Warm. It also references the comics, particularly Imbalance.
> 
> I hope you enjoy these as they come out!

Cranefish Town was turning into a bustling metropolis, so much so that it seemed a little overwhelming. Especially four years after the war ended, multiple Ozai supporter uprisings later, and a bender superiority conflict within Cranefish Town itself, the rapid pace of growth kept Aang and his friends on their toes.

Aang was especially kept on his toes whenever he was trying to avoid Toph’s “affection.”

“Ow!” he yelped. “What was that for?!”

Toph cackled at him as he rubbed his arm with a grimace. She tucked her fist back to herself, a pleased look on her face after she punched the Avatar. “I’m thanking you!” she laughed. “If it weren’t for you and Sweetness over here, I wouldn’t have been able to convince my dad that Earthen Fire Industries could help branch out to building a new metalbending academy here!”

“I don’t know if ‘building’ is the right word, Toph,” he replied, slowly inching away from her as they walked down the street and toward the market.

“Yeah,” agreed Katara to his left. “He just said he would let the engineers use supplies your family’s refinery is digging out.”

Toph frowned. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Close enough!” She swung her arms at her sides, matching their speed with long, confident strides.

It was certainly a step up, Aang supposed. His friend and her father, Lao Beifong, were starting to come into their own kind of understanding over the years. It had taken long enough. Besides, working with the factories had given him insight into the goings-on to how businesses worked. Though he was not a staunch supporter of dense industrial progress, he also understood that this was the new way of the world. Learning to control progress and live with it was a part of balance. He had to thank Sokka for instilling that knowledge into him when they dealt with Liling and her bending supremacists.

“Well, I can’t wait to eat after all that talking,” groaned Aang. “I could eat a bushel full of mangoes.”

“Just a bushel?” teased Toph. “I could hear your stomach growling from across the bay. You could probably eat ten bushels plus a cart of lychees.”

“C’mon,” added Katara with a grin, “don’t be so modest about it! He could eat as much as Appa!”

The girls laughed at his expense, and even through his pout he started to smile. It felt good to be with them.

The three of them wandered the open-air market, searching for stalls of street food to munch on. It was well past noon, but they had not had lunch yet. They had been speaking with Earthen Fire Industries representatives for hours. Even though Toph was an executive partner, it took a lot of finagling to convince them to offer resources for her academy. Toph said that since she had started to spend so much time in Cranefish Town, she might as well have her students move with her.

Aang could not blame her. He was beginning to think that making some sort of residence in the area sounded like a good idea. Since it was a central part of the world, near enough to the Earth Kingdom capital and Fire Nation, it had become a spot that he had frequented. He could easily travel to the poles from Cranefish Town as well, and even to the Air Temples as he commenced repairs on them.

He really was excited to eat.

“Here, Aang, I think you’ll like this vegetarian jook,” offered Katara. She was balancing three bowls on a tray, making her way to the outdoor tables just outside the stall they were at. Two of the bowls had pieces of chicken in them, while one of them had scallions. “I got extra ginger for you.”

“Oh, thanks!” beamed Aang. He took the tray from her and picked out a table under the shade for them. He looked around. “Where’s Toph?”

Katara placed the bowls at their proper settings, frowning. “She was just behind me a few minutes ago.”

Aang sighed. “I’m sure she’ll turn up eventually.” His stomach growled rather loudly, and he grimaced while Katara giggled. “I vote we start eating without her.”

He sprinkled the ginger into his bowl, mixing in the scallions and accepting the small dish of ground peanuts to add. He ladled the rice porridge into his mouth with gusto, almost burning his taste buds in the process. He was startled into swallowing a searing hot spoonful when Toph appeared out of nowhere. He coughed, reaching for a cup of water.

Katara patted his back with sympathy. “Where were you?” she asked Toph with a glance.

“You’ll never believe what I just heard!” the earthbender exclaimed, completely disregarding her friend’s question. “Some merchants at the dock were trading stories about wind buffalo on an island they passed on the way here!”

Aang blinked, staring at her. “Lots of people think they see stuff like that. That’s how we ended up meeting Teo and his dad at the Northern Air Temple.”

Toph sat down across him, grasping her own bowl toward herself. “You don’t get it, Twinkle Toes! They said they saw a whole herd! It’s only a day’s journey south of here!”

Aang let out a breath, setting down his spoon, shaking his head. He could feel Katara’s gaze on him. She reached for his shoulder, placing a comforting hand there.

He could not bring himself to believe something like that. It was too good to be true. Hope, as powerful as it was, had been a painful reminder of needing to have hope at all. He had been disappointed before. He did not know what would happen to his heart if these tales were proven wrong again.

He looked at Katara, and he could see the conviction there. Silent words passed between them.

“Okay,” he said, never breaking eye contact, “I guess we can check it out.”

-

Toph agreed to watch out for any skirmishes while Aang and Katara left Cranefish Town. If he was being honest, he was a little nervous about it. Toph tended to have more rash tendencies in terms of action than he had.

“Everything will be fine,” Katara said with a soft smile. She grabbed his hand in both of hers. “I think it’s a good thing that we’re doing this.” 

He felt the kind of warmth in his core that he could only feel with her. “I’m glad you’re doing this with me,” he replied.

“I know you’re worried,” she continued, “but I think you need to see for yourself.”

Aang looked out into the bay, seeing the waves as they sparkled in the early morning light. Behind them, the beaches that led to the growing city were calm. The sands of early spring rose in the winds. The brightening blue skies limned the mountains in the distance, and the sun casted a gentle yellow.

The pair of them boarded Appa and his bison let out a puff of air. Momo rumbled into anticipation, and the little lemur crawled from his shoulders to his lap. In minutes, they were off. He took the reins, Katara beside him.

Aang was soon surrounded by the familiar touch of the breeze on his face and skin. In the sky, he was himself. In the sky, he was free.

They were free.

Katara was the flame at his side, keeping him together as they traversed the clouds. Even though he was an airbender and knew how to keep warm through his bending, it was cold. She kept him warm even as his thoughts lost color and tried to steer away from the sharp pangs of possible disappointment.

But, as Zuko liked to tell his friends, he could not stop himself from doing something just because he was afraid that he might fail.

When the sun slipped below the horizon, they finally spotted a small island smack in the middle of the sea, just as Toph had described from her instructions. It was between the Fire Nation’s Crescent Island and the rest of the Earth Kingdom continent. In fact, it was so small, that he could see the whole thing from the air, and he was sure that the piece of land was miniscule enough that it had not made it onto most world maps.

It was a hilly landscape and completely untouched by humans. Everything was covered with shrubbery and trees. Katara pointed to the one flat surface they could find that rose around the water on a cliff, and Aang guided Appa to land there.

When they got off the saddle, Katara shivered. “Wow, it really is cold here,” she remarked. “And really windy. It feels like we’re in one of the Air Temples.”

“It would be a perfect place to build one,” he consented. “Let’s set up camp.”

As he assisted Katara with rolling out their sleeping bags, he could not help but feel that niggling feeling of fear. What if there was nothing there? What if they had just followed a trail that led to empty land? He shook his head, banishing the thoughts as quickly as they came. He could not afford to think that way. Whatever happened, he had to accept it.

In the night, the gusts were chilly. He and Katara laid against Appa’s large tail, cuddling up to each other for some more heat. On the cliffside, the cool season of early spring was more apparent than before.

He closed his eyes, an arm settling around Katara.

Moments passed. Katara shifted and with careful motion, untangled herself from him. Her footsteps crunched on the ground, quiet. He could tell she did not want to wake him.

The only problem was he could not sleep. There was an energy flowing through him. He opened his eyes to the white face of the full moon hanging above him, and he understood why. Looking from his perch on Appa, he realized that Katara must have ventured off into the forest just ahead of them. If the moon had kept him up, he was sure that it had a similar effect on her.

He could hear Appa’s snores, and decided it was safe enough to follow her. He was only a few minutes behind. Momo squealed and trailed behind him.

He brushed away branches from his sight, squinting through the darkness, and letting Yue’s light navigate him through the winding pathways. Leaves scattered by, and little skittering noises shuffled from bush to bush.

He heard a scream.

“Katara!” Aang bellowed. The blood pumping through his veins surged as he ran. “Katara, where are you?! I’m coming!”

The fear that coursed through him increased when he did not hear an immediate answer. With a sudden crash _,_ he burst through the trees, stumbling out into a clearing. His heart pounded against his ribcage. He searched for her with a wild expression.

He stepped forward. Something squashed underneath his boot. He lifted his foot, peering at a fallen moon peach. Its pale pink skin was flat on the earth.

Then, without any proper warning, a lemur that was most certainly not Momo appeared. Momo himself was on his shoulders now. This lemur was a species he had never seen before. It had bright orange irises and darker rims around its eyes, and additional rings on its tail. It nudged at the forgotten fruit at his feet.

“Aang!” called Katara. She showed up in front of him, a great grin on her face. She was breathing hard, her cheeks flushed. There were tears in her eyes. “It’s wonderful,” she said as her voice cracked.

She took his hand like she always had done. They sprinted past the strange lemur, sprinted past the trees that shadowed their backs, and further in the clearing he saw silhouettes.

“They startled me,” she spoke after a moment of silence.

The moon’s light made them look mysterious, majestic. But he knew without a doubt what he was seeing.

An entire herd of flying bison rested before them near a raging waterfall and streams. Calves moaned at each other, playing, and splashing under the stars. This species too was different and had more bands on their fur than Appa.

A mother glanced at him, tilting her head. She seemed wary, but not frightened. Momo greeted her with enthusiasm. She stared at Aang, her deep brown eyes giving a look he could not quite understand.

He reached out a hand. A cold, wet nose nuzzled against it. He laughed, and he laughed, and something inside him unfurled until he cried.

Then, he was picking up Katara and twirling her around. Her whole body was shaking with laughter that complimented his, music to his ears. Her arms linked around his neck, and they shared the space between them in a bubble of happiness.

He was grateful in that moment. She was with him, and they discovered something he thought was lost forever together. There was nothing but warmth.

**Author's Note:**

> BAM. Fluff. I would also like to note that this was inspired by the canon fact that after the war, Aang found a lost herd of bison off the shores of the Earth Kingdom! 
> 
> Please leave a comment letting me know what was the good, the bad, and the ugly in this story!


End file.
